So, the great commercial jamboree is going to take place again, in 2009 (March 2009). You bet! It brought in an additional 32,000 (and more) cats, dogs and rabbits onto the vaccination books. What's that worth? I don't buy vaccines now, so I don't know what money that will generate but, rest assured, it's a nice bundle. Hence you can expect massive national Waiting Room, TV, Newspaper and Internet coverage.

This year, horses will also be included.

Before taking the bait that's offered (a primary course for the price of a booster), be sure to inform yourself about both sides of the debate. The possible negative effect (side effects, adverse effects) of vaccination is information that is hard to find. The benefits will be trumpeted far and wide but the downside will most likely not be mentioned.

Knowledge and understanding enables you to make an informed decision. When you consent to vaccination for your animal, you sign up to both the good and the bad, the benefit and the harm.

While no observable ill-effect is the result of vaccination in many, for a significant number there may be problems. In extreme cases, an animal can die. In many cases, the shock to the immune system is not easily countered. A great many immune-related diseases start within three months of vaccination. In dogs, such diseases include allergy, colitis, atopy, epilepsy and auto-immune disease. In horses, such diseases as COPD, long-term malaise, skin disease etc. may arise soon after vaccination. Vaccines may contain mercury, phenol, formaldehyde and other poisonous substances, for which there is no safe dose. Vaccines may be manufactured using cancer DNA. Vaccines may contain animal tissues, carrying a possible threat of auto-immunity. There is no science to support annual boosting. These facts are not widely publicised.

There is an alternative, which is, as yet, unproven. Since no massive profits will result from research, funding for research is not forthcoming. I have offered DEFRA, at my expense, research into its efficacy in Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), Blue Tongue and Avian Influenza. I have been turned down.

That alternative is the 'nosode' method (homeoprophylaxis) which is used for countless pets around the UK, without any obvious penalty. My own animals (cats, dogs and horses) are only given this method, never having received vaccination. Their lifestyles make them high-risk animals and we have even had cases of parvovirus, distemper, FeLV, Cat flu, FIP, FIV etc. on the premises, without any problem for my dogs or cats. Our horses were totally unaffected by a 'virus' that swept through a yard where they were staying, one winter. All the other horses were badly affected.

It is not my job to tell anyone whether or not they should vaccinate their animals. My job as a vet is to raise awareness and to help folk to inform themselves of all sides of the issue, so that they can base decisions on proper consideration.

http://www.canine-health-concern.org.uk/

http://www.vaccinationmonth.co.uk/

http://www.vaccinationdebate.com/

http://www.canine-epilepsy.com/vaccination.html

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/324/7334/393

http://www.alternativevet.org/vaccination.htm

Why not visit www.alternativevet.org, while you're here?

Do I have this right, now?

http://www.forbes.com/afxnewslimited/feeds/afx/2008/11/24/afx5735139.html

The current financial mess is the result of us over-spending and over-borrowing.

The solution is: spend more and borrow more.

Sorted!

[Why not take a look at www.alternativevet.org , while you're here?]

We are now told that more babies are being born with Downs syndrome, than was the case before pre-natal screening was available. We have to commend parents on their care and devotion, wish affected families all the very best and offer all the support we can.

The reason for the increase, articles seem to suggest, is that prejudices in society are reducing and willingness, on parents' part, to raise affected children, is increasing.

http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/news/display.var.2470210.0.Rise_in_number_of_babies_born_with_Downs_says_research.php

http://itn.co.uk/news/2afa1423accb4cf447f9979d19ff5c9b.html

http://living.aol.co.uk/health/more-downs-syndrome-babies-born/article/2008112322434668104081

I don't know what I'm missing here (human medicine is not my field, although of course, as a human, I have a deep interest in it) but I would have thought that parental willingness could hardly be a factor if, before pre-natal screening, parents didn't know ahead of the birth that the baby would be affected.

My anxiety is that there may be factors in society and our environment that could be giving rise to this increase and which may not be being researched or investigated. Of course, the trend towards older mums may be a factor but it is folly not to look into the possibility of routine factors, such as diet, agrochemicals, vaccination, drugs, alcohol, smoking etc. (the latter two are unlikely, as they were very prevalent in the years before pre-natal screeningwas avaiable). This is a hereditary problem and we should always be on the lookout for factors that could affect the health and welfare of future generations, especially if negative factors could be avoidable. The reward for vigilance could be that fewer have to suffer the effects of hereditary problems.

[Why not take a look at www.alternativevet.org , while you're here?]

Everyone must have noticed the decline in the House Sparrow, over the last decade or two. They used to be considered a pest, by some, in view of their numbers and their habit of eating off cabbage plants etc. Our stone roof used to be full of them. We had no chance of a sleep-in, in the Summer mornings, with all their chattering and squabbling. Now we're down to a few pairs only (the numbers fluctuate each year). One year, we think we had none, but they thankfully came back.

Modern gardening habits have been blamed, along with the march of Leylandii hedges, paving, tarmac, concrete and decking.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/20/wildlife-endangeredspecies

Of course, these modern trends are no help to the environment and ecology. I'm no lover of decking and Leylandii. However, we personally have control of twelve acres (five or so hectares), we garden extremely lazily and we have at least 1.5 acres of conservation area, that pretty much runs wild. We leave some fallen trees, to act as habitat. We have thistles and nettles. We have burdock, teasels (the goldfinches love these), vetches, rattles, comfrey, dog rose, hawthorn, ivy galore, pyracantha and a good variety of native trees and berries. We have a massive biodiversity of plants and herbage. We have a rambling herb garden and last year's growth is left until Spring. We feed the birds consistently, with organic wild bird seed. We leave all dying garden growth until the Spring, rather than tidying up in the Autumn. We have ample water access for wild birds. We use no chemicals (and have no decking!). Nonetheless, we do not appear to have a haven for sparrows, as one might be entitled to expect.

Has anyone else noticed that car windscreens rarely need a good clean in the summer, nowadays? It used to be that, day or night, the windscreen would be a right mess after just 50 miles on the road. A car journey was a noisy affair at night, with clouds of moths meeting their end. Now, I don't have to clean my windscreen daily, despite my huge mileage. This means to me that there is a general, drastic and widespread decline in insects, not just a paucity of insect habitat in gardens. My suggestion is that maybe the widespread and prodigious use of agrochemicals (pesticides, herbicides, insecticides) could be to blame. I can't believe that GM (genetically modified) foods are completely blameless, either. Might those factors not also contribute to the modern decline of the bee (without whom we'd be really sunk)? Our grassland used to be full of Daddy Longlegs (Leatherjackets) in the Autumn. Not any more. We see a few each year. Our premises was patrolled by several bats and they used to come into the house. Now we rarely see one. The Vale of White Horse used to have flocks and flocks of Lapwings (or Peewits) that feed on leatherjackets in the winter. They would rise off the grassland in darkening clouds and made a wonderful sight, with their unique flight behaviour. Now we're lucky to see two or three about. Their fading is one of the biggest disappointments of my life. Insectivorous creatures appear to be fading everywhere, in arable regions.

I don't eat sparrows, bats or peewits (in fact, I'm vegetarian anyway) but all these chemicals in our food chain cannot be good for any of us, whatever the authorities and companies tell us. It's not just the sparrows. Their food chain is our food chain. Thank heaven for the increase in organically farmed acreage but the march is too slow. The more that folk buy 'cheap' chemically-produced food, the more chemicals will be used. This food isn't cheap anyway, at the end of the day, when the costs of illness, cleaning up drinking water etc., are taken into account.

Are the authorities and scientists afraid to tell us the truth? Maybe the RSPB should take a wider view. The poor old sparrows (and the lapwings, leatherjackets and bees) may be a warning to us, just as we used to take canaries down mines, to monitor for toxic gases. Remember that book - 'Silent Spring' by Rachel Carson? We have the chance to make changes, via our spending habits. Money (sadly) is king.

Georgina Downs's victory in the High Court, earlier this month, is one step on the road to common sense. Let's hope it will lead to a continuing journey.

http://www.warmwell.com/georginadowns.html

There is another thought. These little chaps are not called 'house sparrows' for nothing. Their favourite nesting place in our premises is in the old stone roof. Could it also be that modern roofing methods are not 'sparrow-friendly'? Of course, all those cars on our roads may have a part to play, too, but the reservoir of insects, in a healthy environment, should out number the death toll on the road.

[Why not take a look at www.alternativevet.org , while you're here?]

This nice little story from Northumberland brightens a week or so of gloom and doom on our news. The intrepid otter has stunned conservationists by swimming to the Farne islands, where tracks have been seen by National Trust wardens.

http://www.northumberlandgazette.co.uk/news/Plucky-otter-survives-North-Sea.4716786.jp

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7741008.stm

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article5201250.ece

Whether the otter intended to make this pretty incredible journey is unclear - maybe it was swept by currents and winds in the recent gales. Either way, what an amazing feat of survival, endurance and prowess, swimming for at least three miles from the nearest coastline, in stormy waters and winter temperatures.

Map, to help appreciation of this phenomenon:

http://www.multimap.com/maps/?lat=51.61548&lon=-1.23031&zoomFactor=18#map=55.63333,-1.61667|13|4&dp=904&bd=useful_information&loc=GB:55.63333:-1.61667:17|farne%20islands|Farne%20Islands

Brownsman is one of the larger islands in the middle of the archipelago,

By the way, my grandfather always used to call the kettle a water 'otter!

[Why not take a look at www.alternativevet.org , while you're here?]

Ah, researchers, how would we manage without them?

http://www.herald.ie/national-news/babies-in-buggies--facing-away-from-parents-are-stressed-1546713.html

Research carried out by Dundee University has now discovered that babies pushed in buggies that have them facing the parent laugh more, talk more, interact more, sleep more easily and suffer less stress than those in buggies that have them facing forwards, away from the parent. Glory be.

Perhaps their next research project should be to find out whether a dummy shoved in a baby's mouth might hinder communication! That ought to be worth a hefty research grant.

Babies are not a sub-species, they are our next generation and surely they should be treated with respect and good manners, just as should any other member of our community?

[Why not take a look at www.alternativevet.org , while you're here?]

Perhaps we're later ordering Christmas Cards than most but, if you haven't already ordered, perhaps you'd like to consider which charities perform experiments on animals.

http://www.animalaid.org.uk/h/n/CAMPAIGNS/experiments/ALL/281/

Of course we wish to support charity but, in my opinion, animal experimentation (vivisection/laboratory animal experimentation) is not only inhumane, it is also non-productive of medical benefit. In fact, I believe it holds back potential medical advances.

http://www.alternativevet.org/animal_experiments.htm

Thankfully, there are plenty of other charities that do not experiment on animals. They get our support.

[Why not take a look at www.alternativevet.org , while you're here?]

Congratulations to the seven South African vets who passed the Faculty of Homeopathy's post-graduate examination (VetMFHom) earlier this month. They are:

Marianna de Vos

Sheila Clow

Margaret Hiza

Norman Pearson

Lara Schmidt

Louise Biggs

Ingrid Spitze

They will be welcomed into the Faculty as new 'Veterinary Members'.This is a 'first' for the African continent and is hopefully only the start of great hings to come. Well done those who worked so long and hard to achieve this landmark in their careers and I wish them a career of ongoing personal development and job satisfaction. My thanks also to those who helped with the task of examining, out in South Africa. This was another triumph of video link, as I did not have to leave my desk for the whole two days of the process!

[Why not take a look at www.alternativevet.org while you're here?]

Georgina Downs has, by her persistence, tenacity and courage, achieved a land mark victory for the rights of citizens to be informed what sprays (agrochemicals - herbicides, fungicides and pesticides) are about to be used around their home.

Yesterday, a High Court judge ruled that Georgina Downs, who lives in a rural area outside Chichester, West Sussex, had produced "solid evidence" that residents had suffered harm from these chemicals. For too long has this very real and present danger in the countryside been ignored and belittled.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article5158346.ece

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1085704/Pesticide-nun-wins-landmark-battle-dangerous-chemicals-spread-fields-near-homes.html

http://www.warmwell.com/georginadowns.html

Mr Justice Collins said, in his ruling, that ". . . . 'defects' in Defra's approach to pesticide safety 'contravene the requirement' of a 1991 EC Directive that harmonises the regulation of 'plant protection products' and that Mr Benn 'must think again and consider what needs to be done' . . . .".

It is clear that the government has not taken its responsibilities to the common man seriously enough and has failed to comply with its obligations under a European Directive to protect rural residents and communities from possible harmful exposure to toxic substances during crop spraying. It is probably too much to expect the traditional resignations of those shown not to have acted correctly in office.

Information on pesticides has always been difficult to obtain, with companies even trying to keep safety data secret! - see this page from 2002:

http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/real_food/news/2002_may_may_15.html

This is not a game of who can beat the system but a serious matter of health and safety, not in work but in our homes, gardens and while going about our daily lives. Of course, we have also seen many dogs harmed by the cavalier approach to the use of agro-chemicals, while they have been out on walks in the countryside or in public parks and it is high time this whole area came under the microscope. Commercial interest cannot be allowed to take precedence over reason and safety although, all too often, that would appear to be what happens in our modern society.

Of course, those who farm organically and those who buy organic food are, as the Soil Association slogan goes, 'part of the soluion not part of the problem'. Chemical food is 'cheap food', at what cost?

Congratulations to Georgina Downs! Spare me from the so-called 'celebrities' - here's a real star.

[Why not take a look at www.alternativevet.org while you're here?]

The Nanny State of Europe has finally threatened to withdraw its archetypal Euro-Madness laws, preventing the sale of mis-shapen fruit and vegetables. This SHOULD be good news for consumers and producers alike, but will the 20% of produce, hitherto rejected under these laws and wasted, see its way onto the shelves. I certainly hope so but, knowing supermarkets, I am not sure. How can we waste good food, on account of its shape, while people worldwide are starving?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7723808.stm

http://www.speedsignal.com/news/eu-to-cut-out-wonky-fruit-rules/

The EU is also going to look into the safety of the so-called Nano Particles, those tiny particles that can penetrate skin with ease and which are incorporated into all sorts of products, including clothing and cosmetics.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/nov/05/cosmetics-beauty-nanoparticles-royal-society

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/article3384114.ece

Good on 'em on both counts. I just hope they will come up with decent research methodology, for safety-evaluation of the Nano-Particles and not use poor animals again. Animals are an unreliable model for the human condition and, anyway, why should they suffer to aid the development of products that we only use for our vanity.

 [Why not take a look at www.alternativevet.org while you're here?]

At last, some independent research on chemotherapy, offering an unbiased appraisal, albeit on a small sector (late-stage) of cancer patients.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/nov/12/health-cancer-chemotherapy-palliative-care

"Serious questions are today raised about chemotherapy for seriously ill cancer patients, some of whom die as a result of the drugs they are taking.

An inquiry into more than 600 deaths within 30 days of chemotherapy has found the treatment probably either caused or hastened death in 27% of cases. . . . .

. . . . The inquiry was carried out by the independent NCEPOD (National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death), whose members come mainly from the medical royal colleges.

Its findings raise difficult issues about what doctors think they are doing and what patients and their families want. Some of those who died were receiving chemotherapy to try to combat the cancer, but more were given it as palliative care ... to reduce the symptoms and give them a better quality of life as it drew to an end.

Patients usually suffer side-effects from chemotherapy, said the report's co-author Mark Lansdown, a surgical oncologist. But most patients in the study were receiving palliative treatment in which the aim was to alleviate symptoms of cancer with minimum side-effects. Yet 43% of all patients in the study suffered significant treatment-related toxicity."

It must be bad enough to have contracted a deadly disease, without having to fear the treatment. Medical research must be based more on reality, like this work, rather than on the hypothetical and irrelevant products of animal experimentation. Iatrogenic disease will continue, while research is commercially-oriented and animal-based.

 [Why not take a look at www.alternativevet.org while you're here?]

The long-foretold Animal Research Laboratory opens in Oxford.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/nov/11/animal-research-oxford-university

Why does 'science' persist in using animals for medical experiments (called research) into human diseases that have no animal parallel? Promised advances have not been forthcoming. How can they result from such a misguided process? Animal experimentation is holding back medical advances and introduces Russian Roulette into medicine [have we already forgotten the dramatic example of the six healthy volunteers who took TGN1412 for the first human trial in London, on 13 March 2006, who suffered serious toxic reactions with collapse and loss of consciousness with multiple organ failure (MOF) and were admitted to intensive care?]. The genome of a chimpanzee, according to some, is 98% similar to that of man, yet the disease of AIDS cannot be induced in chimpanzees.

According to yesterday's news reports, the hundreds of monkeys (even less like humans) that will be housed in this facility represent only 2% of the animals held there. Genetically-modified mice were the first to be moved in, yesterday.

Despite countless tragic tales of serious human damage and deaths, using the products of animal experimentation, the gravy train rolls on. Careers, kudos and money are put before animal welfare.

How will a future enlightened generation look back on this sad and wasteful practice and those who perpetrate such activity?

What has our society come to, that we very nearly saw legal action to force a thirteen year-old girl to have a heart transplant against her wishes? I shall not reiterate the sad circumstances of this case here, as plenty has already been written elsewhere.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24637947-2703,00.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-wellbeing/health-news/girl-13-wins-right-to-refuse-heart-transplant-1009569.html

http://calvininjax.wordpress.com/2008/11/11/girl-13-refuses-heart-transplant-and-hospital-backs-down-from-legal-action/ (you can leave comment here)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27665174/ (examines the issues more deeply)

I shall pause, however, to consider what would have been done to the likes of you and me, quite rightly, had we sought to force a 13 year-old into a traumatic experience against her wishes. There are, thankfully, child abuse (protection) laws.

Words fail me.

Why was a clumsy bureaucratic tool unleashed and almost unstoppable legal machinery launched before proper consideration had been given? I can see the point that medical personnel would be very concerned to act in a child's best interests. I cannot see how threatening the horrors of legal action against a loving family, that has been through so much trauma already, can be anything other than crass and ugly. Why the threat before the opinion of a social worker had been sought?

Would you put your dog through such an ordeal and risk, for what appeared (from the minimum information that has been published) to be the chance of a very short prolongation of life?  There was also the chance of dying alone in hospital. One assumes that Hannah would, anyway, had the proposed course of action been pursued, have to have been forced into sedation before being abducted from home.

Dignity and welfare were very much at risk. Congratulations to Andrew and Kirsty Jones and Hannah, for bringing this to public attention and, hopefully, for making other PCTs more careful in future (this incident is even more poignant, when it is considered that Mrs Jones is apparently an intensive care nurse).

My heart goes out to the family and I hope that the Disney World trip, to Orlando, Florida, becomes a treasured reality.

[Why not take a look at www.alternativevet.org while you're here?]

Congratulations to Henry Stephenson, Carl von Schreiber and David Hare, three stalwart vets in Australia who have attained their VetMFHom qualification. They have worked long and hard and did well during the last hurdle. This is now the beginning of a long journey of personal development and I wish them all well.

Last night, all night long, we held the clinical and oral parts of the Faculty of Homeopathy's veterinary homeopathic postgraduate examinations (VetMFHom) in Australia. Why all night? Well, I partook in and oversaw the examination process, by video link, from my desktop in the UK, while it was actually Monday in Australia. If today I look as if I've been up all night, it's OK, I really have.

[Why not take a look at www.alternativevet.org while you're here?]

This weekend (Sunday night in the UK - Monday morning in Australia) sees the clinical and oral examinations for the Faculty of Homeopathy's VetMFHom post-graduate veterinary qualification. Candidates have worked long and hard, studying homeopathy for this exam and I wish them well on the day.

It will involve me in a night out of bed, on the video link, but it will be worth it to expand the influence and availability of veterinary homeopathy in the continent of Australia.

The best of good fortune to one and all.

Credit must go to Douglas Wilson and Megan Kearney, for organising it and for providing Facilities.

[Why not take a look at www.alternativevet.org while you're here?]

Belated congratulations to Lewis Hamilton, on his great achievement and on his realisation of a childhood ambition, last weekend in Brazil. No one can take away from him what he has done. Being World Champion in Formula 1 is a fantastic and tangible reward. I hope he is given the wisdom to handle the pots of money that will descend on him. He has a great family around him, which is a wonderful and stable platform for a young man like him.

As for the alleged 'racist' incidents, both at Barcelona, Spain last year and at Interlagos, Sao Paulo this year, those involved should be utterly ashamed of themselves and Formula 1 should be grown up enough to exercise the ultimate sanction, should any such incident happen again. It should not be ignored. The Grand Prix in the country should be cancelled for one year.

If that were the accepted consequence, the fans themselves would police it. Football (soccer) in Britain has grasped the bull by the horns on the issue. F1 cannot hide from it, however that man Bernie Ecclestone wants to dress it up.

Lewis Hamilton rightly deserves our respect and admiration.

(I usually keep off non-animal politics but this issue really gets my goat!)

Congratulations to the American Nation (U.S. Nation) and to Mr Obama. I hope that Mr Obama's singular victory will bring a time of healing for the USA and for the world.

The vote was a decisive and emphatic one, removing any chance of the slurs that have besmirched recent elections in that great country. We hope that everyone can now move forward, whatever their political persuasion, and create a new future.

Hopefully, we can anticipate a time when the United States President and Nation can look progress and change in the eye and grasp it bravely. Change is inevitable. Let us hope that Mr Obama and the people can embrace it and steer it in a positive and inclusive direction, with minimum pain for everyone. It is, inevitably, a huge responsibility.

Certainly, this election has at least shown that the people as a whole are not afraid of change, at many levels. How US citizens view themselves and the world will have changed at a stroke and a new energy will be running. How the world views the USA will also have changed and I am sure that the influence that this country, the most powerful nation on Earth, wields will start to take the lead on the many serious challenges that face us all.

So, Japanese scientists have taken the first steps towards reviving prehistoric beasties, like the woolly mammoth. They have cloned mice from specimens frozen for 16 years. 'Jurassic Park' may not have been such a wild proposition.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/11/081103-frozen-cloning.html?source=rss

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7707498.stm

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/07/15/tech/main563450.shtml

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2003/jul/16/sciencenews.science

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/scientists-attempt-to-clone-woolly-mammoth-586967.html

Silly me - I thought that had already been done, with all these 'flat-earth' folk running around, refusing to see the evidence under their noses, that homeopathy has validity and can offer patients (human and animal) a chance where no other chance exists. Why let someone die in a hospital bed, saying nothing else can be done when nothing else has been tried? Why deny an animal the chance of an active and enjoyable life, for want of trying something else than conventional drug medicine?

Another pet hate of mine is the disdain shown for the wisdom of our ancestors. So-called 'science' talks condescendingly of 'old wives' tales', dismissing them as unproven codswallop. Every so often, a modern scientific explanation is found for yet another 'old wives' tale'. Why can't these anti-deluvian (antideluvian) creatures see that there may be more than a grain of truth in many others, and pay them some interest, instead of dismissing them out of hand. That is NOT science.

Of course, the pharmaceutical industry quietly does respect ancient wisdom and is forever researching traditional cures, to see what money-making manufactured analogue can be created. It just doesn't come out and say so, leaving the foot soldiers (doctors, vets and others) happily deriding anything not yet 'scientifically' proven.

Apart from this sad and wistful observation, we have to wonder about the wisdom (and ethics) of reviving that which has become extinct. What shall we do with such creatures, if we 're-create' them? No doubt man's fascination for doing the 'impossible' will override common sense, in this, as in so many fields.

[Why not take a look at www.alternativevet.org while you're here?]